Hockey player sparks controversy after religiously charged tweets
A young NHL prospect recently turned Preacher on his twitter feed, much to the chagrin of many. Here’s the details:
I respect Rocco Grimaldi, the California kid that the Florida Panthers selected in the second round of the 2011 draft and is going to play for North Dakota this season. (Where he could be rookie of the year in the WCHA.)
I respect that he’s a role model for young players, who see a 5-foot-6 forward on a path to the NHL. I respect that he’s a devout Christian who uses social media to preach what he believes, even if his candor may have scared off some teams at the draft.
I respect that, in the end, Grimaldi views faith as a way to affect positive change in someone’s life and in society, which is a view I imagine places him in the majority in the United States.
What I don’t respect, however, are Twitter rants that espouse Puritanical nonsense about how women need to cover themselves lest their feminine curves tempt men.
Rocco wants to know, ladies: Are you honoring God with those jeans that make your butt look great?
The article goes on to highlight the posts, shown here as an entire paragraph instead of a series of tweets:
“Ladies you can help us guys out big time. Put your boobs away and everything else that is hanging out, guys have a hard enough time with that temptation without u helping it along. When did being a beautiful girl become dressing with the least amount of clothes on? When did what u wear become a competition? Before you dress, ask: “Does this outfit honor God, does it honor my body, does it help serve/love my brothers? If it’s a no to any of those questions, then u shouldn’t wear that outfit. #thinkbeforeyoudress”
The article writer then follows up with more opinions on Grimaldi:
There’s a thin line between “ladies are too scantily clad these days” and “God wants you in a potato sack because your brothers can’t help themselves,” and Rocco ran through it. I mean, to each his own, but in my eyes this entire request veers uncomfortably close to the asinine “she was asking for it/look how she was dressed” denouncement women have had to battle for decades.
I should note here that Charles and others here on LGF have made almost an identical point on similar stories before.
Then we get to Grimaldi’s advice to guys:
“Guys, when did sleeping with every girl u can make u a man? Anyone can lay with a woman. And don’t blame the women for how they dress. Don’t say it’s because they want attention. Don’t blame ur “curiosity” or that u just wanted a little taste of what it would be like. Women are not an object for playing with. Sex is a gift from God. We have made it idolatry by how we use it. We blame the women for what they’re wearing, we blame the media for what they’re producing, but we never blame OURSELVES for how WE’VE twisted God’s gift to only glorify ourselves. WE are the men and WE are to blame. God put US in charge of this earth so WE are the ones who need to man up and lay down our lust. Don’t fall into that temptation. If you don’t do this, you may be a boy for the rest of ur life #ManUp”
The writer reiterates that he DOES respect Grimaldi, but takes issue with these particular comments:
But his comments about women are the kind of sexist, archaic thoughts that cloud the positive impact of faith. As a (lapsed) Roman Catholic myself, it’s a constant struggle: You believe there are aspects of religion that are undoubtedly beneficial, but they’re constantly overshadowed by clunky views on sex and gender that repel people and open up the entire community to ridicule.
Full article is here.
I can understand where he’s coming from, but I think there are times you have to pick your battles and this was a bad one to pick. Usually scolding people on Twitter (or Facebook for that matter) is never the best way to address an issue.
Kudos to the kid for being totally honest with his opinion, but he may have made more enemies than friends with opinions like that.